of  tijp 


(HolUttmn  of  Nnrllj  ffiaroltntana 

C6 
K54 


This  BOOK  may  be  kept  out  TWO  WEE] 
ONLY,  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  FV 
CENTS  a  day  thereafter.   It  -wasJtatoi  out 

the  day  indicated  below: 


SEP  4     19i8 


^^jiA^u..^  A  y( 


1 


»  m 


OBITUARY    ADDRESSES 


ON  THB 


#aasOT  of  %  gtatlj 


OF  THE 


HOK  WILLIAI  R,  KING, 


OF    ALABAMA, 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES: 


DELIVERED    IN    THE 


^:    '^-^ 


€mtt  0f  il]^  Inito  States, 

EIGHTH  AND  NINTH  DECEMBER,  1853. 


WASHINGTON: 
PRINTED   BY   ROBERT   ARMSTRONG. 

1854. 


*- 


y 


■« 


|it  tjjc  Jpm  of  ^tpmtittatiks  of  %  Inittb 

States. 


December  19,  1853. 


Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  House  Committee  on 
Printing  cause  to  be  published,  and  bound  in  pamphlet  form, 
in  such  manner  as  may  seem  to  them  appropriate,  for  the 
use  of  the  House,  thirty  thousand  copies  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  and  the  ad- 
dresses of  the  members,  in  regard  to  the  death  of  the  late 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  the  Hon.  William 
R.  King,  together  -vrith  so  much  of  the  President's  Message 
of  the  present  Session  as  relates  thereto,  and  the  proceed- 
ings of  the   Supreme  Court   of  the  United   States  on  the 

same  subject. 

Attest, 

JOHN  W.  FORNEY. 

Clerk  H.  B.  U.  S. 


3 

si)  8 

r 


•9 


gtatlj  of  IMilliam  ^\.  |iing. 


Extract  from  the  Annual  Message  of  the  President  of  the  United 

States  to  Congress. 

"  Since  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States  has  passed  from  the  scenes  of  earth, 
without  having  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  station  to 
which  he  had  been  called  by  the  voice  of  his  countrymen. 
Having  occupied,  almost  continuously,  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  a  seat  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  Houses  of  Con- 
gress, and  having  by  his  singular  purity  and  wisdom  secured 
unbounded  confidence  and  universal  respect,  his  failing  health 
was  watched  by  the  nation  with  painful  solicitude.  His  loss 
to  the  country,  under  all  the  circumstances,  has  been  justly 
regarded  as  irreparable.'* 


t- 


'^ 


§hximx^  %)iktssts. 


SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Thursday,  December  8,  1853. 

Mr.  HUNTER,  of  Virginia,  rose  and  addressed  the  Senate 
as  follows : 

Since  the  adjournment  of  the  last  Congress,  an 
event  has  occurred  which  it  becomes  us  to  notice. 
The  American  people  have  lost  a  Vice-President, 
and  the  Senate  a  Presiding  Officer,  by  the  death 
of  William  R.  King,  who  departed  this  life  in 
April  last,  at  his  home  in  the  State  of  Alabama. 
I  rise,  as  the  Senators  from  that  State  are  unavoid- 
ably absent,  to  ask  that  we  may  pause  for  a  day  at 
least  in  our  deliberations  upon  the  affairs  of  life,  to 
devote  it  to  the  memory  of  one  who  was  bound  to 
us  by  so  many  personal  and  official  ties.  Surely,  sir, 
there  are  none  within  the  limits  of  this  wide-spread 
Confederacy,  to  whom  the  life  and  services  of  William 
R.  King  are  known,  who  would  not  be  ready  with 
some  offermg,  either  of  public  respect  or  personal 
affection,  to  bestow  upon  his  tomb.  ( There  have  been 
few  public  men,  whose  lives  have  been  as  long  and 


(§• 


! 


as  active  as  his,  who  have  made  more  friends ;  and 
none,  I  am  sure,  ever  left  fewer  enemies. )  Nor  was 
his  one  of  those  cold  and  impassive  characters  which 
shed  their  light  without  heat,  but  its  kindly  influ- 
ences fell  with  genial  and  friendly  warmth  within 
whatever  circle  he  might  move. 

It  is  a  happy  thing  for  a  country  when  the  lives 
of  its  public  men  may  be  throw^n  freely  open  to  the 
world,  and  challenge  its  closest  scrutiny,  with  a  con- 
sciousness on  the  part  of  the  friendly  critic  that  there 
is  no  blot  to  be  concealed,  and  no  glaring  fault  which 
a  love  of  truth  forbids  him  to  deny,  and  his  own 
sense  of  right  scarcely  allows  him  to  palliate.  Here, 
at  least,  is  a  public  man,  in  whose  life  there  can  be 
found  no  instance  of  a  mean  or  equivocating  action, 
none  of  a  departure  from  the  self-imposed  restraints 
of  a  refined  and  lofty  sense  of  honor ;  and  none  in 
which  either  the  fear  of  man  or  the  seductions  of 
ambition  tempted  him  to  a  deed  which  could  destroy 
either  his  own  self-respect  or  the  respect  of  others 
for  him.  He  trod  the  difficult  and  devious  paths  to 
political  preferment  long  and  successfully,  and  yet  he 
kept  his  robes  unsoiled  by  the  vile  mire  which  so 
often  pollutes  those  ways.  It  is  said,  that  the  story 
of  every  human  life,  if  rightly  told,  may  convey  a 
useful  lesson  to  those  who  survive.  Of  all  the  public 
men  whom  I  have  known,  there  are  none  whose  lives 
teach  more  impressively  the  great  moral  of  the 
strength  which  public  virtue  gives  than  that  of  Colo- 


«- 


m  m 


nel  King.  His  was  an  instance  in  which  greatness" 
was  achieved  without  the  aid  of  those  brilliant  quali- 
ties whose  rare  assemblage  the  world  calls  genius, 
but  by  what  is  better  far,  a  sound  judgment,  a  reso- 
lute purpose  to  pursue  the  right,  and  a  capacity  to 
gather  wisdom  from  experience. 

He  was  no  orator,  and  yet  from  the  force  of  cha- 
racter he  could  wield  an  influence  which  mere  oratory 
never  commanded.  He  had  none  of  that  presumptu- 
ous self-confidence  which  so  often  misleads  ourselves 
and  others,  and  which,  though  a  dangerous,  is  still  a 
commanding  quality;  but  he  knew  how  to  inspire  a 
people  with  a  just  confidence  in  the  soundness  of  his 
judgment  and  the  integrity  of  his  purpose,  so  as  to  be 
looked  to  as  a  safe  depositary  of  trust  and  power. 

Although  gentle  and  kind  in  his  intercourse  with 
others,  he  could  be  stern  enough  when  the  public 
interests  or  his  personal  honour  required  it.  He 
was  a  man,  sir,  whose  whole  soul  would  have  sick- 
ened under  a  sense  of  personal  dishonor. 

It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  each  step  in  the 
political  career  of  such  a  man  should  have  been 
crowned  with  public  honors.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  North  Caro- 
lina, his  native  State,  where  he  served  until  he  was 
made  Solicitor.  In  that  capacity  he  acted  for  two 
years;  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  was  again 
returned  to  the  Legislature,  in  which  body  he  served 
during   the   years  1808-9.      In  1810,  being   then 


8 

twentj'-five  years  of  age,  he  was  sent  to  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  where  he 
served  from  1811  to  1816,  when  he  resigned  to  go 
abroad  as  Secretary  of  Legation  to  Mr.  Pinckney, 
our  Minister  to  Russia.  Upon  his  return  he  emigrated 
to  Alabama,  where  he  was  almost  immediately  sent 
to  their  Constitutional  Convention. 

And  at  the  first  session  of  the  first  Legislature 
which  assembled  afterward,  he  was  sent  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  from  the  State  of  Alabama, 
where  he  may  be  said  to  have  served  continuously, 
until  his  election  to  the  Yice-Presidency,  with  the 
exception  of  two  years,  when  he  was  Minister  to 
France.  Finally,  he  was  elected  the  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States  by  a  large  majority  of  the 
American  people.  As  he  ascended  step  by  step  to 
this  elevation,  his  vision  seemed  to  grow  with  his 
horizon,  and  when  the  occasion  came,  he  was  always 
found  equal  to  it.  For,  to  the  aid  of  a  sound  judg- 
ment, he  brought,  as  he  grew  older,  the  wusdom  of  a 
large  experience. 

His  political  career  may  be  said  to  have  been  one 
triumphant  march  through  life ;  a  march  in  which 
his  step  neither  fiiltered  nor  stumbled,  in  ascending 
to  that  place  which  was,  perhaps,  the  chief  object  of 
his  aspiration.  And  yet,  as  if  to  show  that  even  the 
most  successful  of  men  must  sooner  or  later  feel  the 
emptiness  of  the  earthly  objects  of  our  usual  pursuit, 
that   much-prized  honor  was  to  him  the  Dead-Sea 

m  ^ 


$- 


'S 


fruit,  which  turns  to  ashes  on  the  lips.  It  came,  but 
it  came  too  late.  The  breath  of  public  applause 
could  not  revive  the  flame  which  flickered  in  the 
lamp  of  life.  In  vain  did  the  assiduity  of  relatives 
and  friends  surround  him  with  affectionate  care.  In 
vain  did  the  aspirations  of  a  whole  people  ascend  to 
Heaven  for  his  recovery.  The  balmy  influences  of 
neither  sea  nor  sky  could  revive  or  restore  him. 
When  the  public  messenger  came  to  clothe  him  with 
the  forms  of  office,  his  chief  earthly  wish  was  to  see  his 
home  once  more,  and,  in  the  midst  of  familiar  scenes, 
to  die  among  his  friends.  His  desire  was  gratified. 
Life  and  its  busy  scenes  on  this  side  the  grave  are  now 
closed  on  him  for  ever.  But  its  tale  yet  remains  to 
be  told.  Not  by  me,  sir,  or  at  this  time.  But  it  will 
be  told  in  the  chronicles  of  his  State  hereafter,  when 
it  may  become  a  labor  of  love  to  some  of  her  sons 
to  write  the  story  of  its  founders  and  sages.  It  will 
be  told  in  our  own  political  history,  by  whoever  may 
portray  the  stirring  and  eventful  scenes  in  which  he 
acted  a  prominent  and  useful  part.  It  will  be  told, 
too,  and  perhaps  heard,  with  most  interest  in  the 
traditions  of  a  family  of  which  he  was  the  ornament 
and  pride. 

Mr.  President,  those  to  whom  our  people  have 
been  long  accustomed  to  look,  in  times  of  difficulty 
and  emergency,  for  counsel  and  opinion,  are  falling 
fast  around  us.  It  is  an  anxious  thing  to  feel  their 
loss  at  a  period  like  this,  pregnant  with  change,  and 


-i> 


10 


teeming,  perhaps,  with  great  and  strange  events. 
The  men  we  cannot  recall ;  but  let  us  preserve  their 
memories ;  let  us  study  their  teachings ;  and  it  will 
be  well  if,  in  many  respects,  we  shall  follow  their 
examples. 

I  offer  the  following  resolution : — 

Resolved,  That  from  respect  to  the  late  William  R.  King, 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  President  of  the 
Senate,  the  chair  of  the  President  of  the  Senate  be  shrouded 
with  black;  and,  as  a  further  testimony  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  the  deceased,  the  members  of  the  Senate  will  go 
into  mourning,  by  wearing  crape  on  their  left  arm  for  thirty 
days. 

Ordered,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  communicate 
this  resolution  to  the  House  of  Representatives. 


MR.  EVERETT,  of  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  President  :  —  I  have  been  requested  to 
second  the  motion  which  has  just  been  made  by  the 
Senator  from  Virginia.  I  do  so  with  great  cheerful- 
ness. It  was  my  good  fortune  to  enjoy  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  late  Vice-President — I  hope,  even  some 
portion  of  his  friendly  regard — for  a  longer  23eriod, 
probably,  than  most  of  those  within  the  sound  of  my 
voice ;  a  period  of  nearly  thirty  years.  Such  being 
the  case,  I  feel  as  if  I  ought  not  to  remain  silent  at 
this  last  moment,  when  our  relations  to  him  as  mem- 


•i) 


•# 


11 

bers  of  this  Senate  are,  by  the  performance  of 
this  day's  melancholy  duty,  about  to  be  closed  for 
ever. 

There  is  an  ancient  maxim,  Sir,  founded  at  once  in 
justice  and  right  feeling,  which  bids  us  "say  nothing 
but  what  is  good  of  the  dead."  I  can  obey  this  rule, 
in  reference  to  the  late  Vice-President,  without  vio- 
lating the  most  scrupulous  dictates  of  sincerity.  I 
can  &Siy  nothing  but  what  is  good  of  him,  for  I  have 
never  &een  or  heard  any  thing  but  good  of  him  for 
thirty  years  that  I  have  known  him,  personally  and 
by  reputation. 

It  would  hardly  be  expected  of  me  to  attempt  to 
detail  the  incidents  of  the  private  life  or  the  public 
career  of  the  late  Vice-President.  That  duty  belongs 
to  others,  by  whom  it  has  been,  or  will  no  doubt  be, 
appropriately  performed.  I  regret,  particularly  on 
this  occasion,  the  unavoidable  absence  of  our  col- 
leagues from  Alabama.  It  is  the  province  of  those 
of  us  not  connected  with  him  by  political  associa- 
tions, especially  of  those  inhabiting  remote  parts 
of  our  common  country,  to  express  their  cordial 
concurrence  in  the  affectionate  praises  pronounced 
by  his  fellow-citizens  and  neighbors. 

Few  of  the  public  men  of  the  day  had  been  so  in- 
timately associated  with  the  Senate  as  the  late  Vice- 
President.  I  think  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
body  for  more  years  than  any  person  now  belonging 
to  it.     Besides  this,  a  relation  of  a  different  kind 


12 

had  grown  up  between  him  and  the  Senate.  The 
Federal  Constitution  devolves  upon  the  people, 
through  the  medium  of  the  Electoral  Colleges,  the 
choice  of  the  presiding  officer  of  this  body.  But 
whenever  the  Senate  was  called  to  supply  the  place 
temporarily,  for  a  long  course  of  years,  and  till  he 
ceased  to  belong  to  it,  it  turned  spontaneously  to  him. 

He  undoubtedly  owed  this  honor  to  distinguished 
qualifications  for  the  chair.  He  possessed,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  that  quickness  of  perception,  that 
promptness  of  decision,  that  familiarity  with  the  now 
somewhat  complicated  rules  of  congressional  proceed- 
ings, and  that  urbanity  of  manner,  which  are  re- 
quired in  a  presiding  officer.  Not  claiming,  although 
an  acute  and  forcible  debater,  to  rank  with  his  illus- 
trious contemporaries,  whom  now,  alas !  we  can  men- 
tion only  to  deplore — with  Calhoun,  with  Clay,  and 
with  Webster,  (I  name  them  alphabetically,  and  who 
will  presume  to  arrange  them  on  any  other  princi- 
ple,) whose  unmatched  eloquence  so  often  shook  the 
walls  of  this  Senate — the  late  Vice-President  pos- 
sessed the  rare  and  the  highly  important  talent  of 
controlling,  with  impartiality,  the  storm  of  debate, 
and  moderating  between  mighty  spirits,  whose  ardent 
conflicts  at  times  seemed  to  threaten  the  stability  of 
the  Kepublic. 

In  fact,  sir,  he  was  highly  endowed  with  what 
Cicero  beautifully  commends  as  the  honi  Senatoris 
jp'nidentia,  tlie  ""  wisdom  of  a  good  Senator ;"  and  in 


-t 


13 

his  accurate  study  and  ready  application  of  the  rules 
of  parliamentary  law,  he  rendered  a  service  to  the 
country,  not  perhaps  of  the  most  brilliant  kind,  but 
assuredly  of  no  secondary  importance.  There  is 
nothing  which  more  distinguishes  the  great  national 
race  to  which  we  belong,  than  its  aptitude  for  govern- 
ment by  deliberative  assemblies;  its  willingness, 
while  it  asserts  the  largest  liberty  of  parliamentary 
right,  to  respect  what  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  in 
another  connection,  has  called  the  self-imposed  re- 
strictions of  parliamentary  order ;  and  I  do  not  think 
it  an  exaggeration  to  say,  that  there  is  no  trait  in  its 
character  which  has  proved  more  conducive  to  the 
despatch  of  the  public  business,  to  the  freedom  of 
debate,  to  the  honor  of  the  country — I  will  say,  even, 
which  has  done  more  to  establish  and  perpetuate 
constitutional  liberty. 

The  long  and  faithful  senatorial  career  of  the  late 
Vice-President  received  at  last  its  appropriate  re- 
ward. The  people  of  the  United  States,  having 
often  witnessed  the  disposition  of  the  Senate  to  place 
him  at  their  head,  and  the  dignified  and  acceptable 
manner  in  which  he  bore  himself  in  that  capacity, 
conferred  upon  him,  a  twelvemonth  since,  that  office, 
which  is  shown  by  repeated  and  recent  experience 
to  be  above,  the  second,  if  not  actually  the  first,  in 
their  gift ;  the  office  which  placed  him  constitution- 
ally and  permanently,  during  its  continuance,  in  the 
chair  of  the  Senate. 


-s 


14 

A  mysterious  dispensation  of  Providence  has 
nipped  these  crowning  honors  in  the  bud.  A  disease, 
for  which  the  perpetual  summer  and  perfumed  breezes 
of  the  tropics  afforded  no  balm,  overtook  him  at  an 
age  when  he  might,  in  the  course  of  nature,  have 
reasonably  looked  forward  to  still  many  years  of 
active  service.  Clothed  by  a  special  and  remarkable 
act  of  Congress,  even  while  under  a  foreign  jurisdic- 
tion, with  the  last  constitutional  qualification  to 
enter  upon  the  high  office  to  which  he  had  been 
elected,  he  returned,  not  to  exercise  its  functions, 
but  to  seek  his  much-loved  home,  and  there  to 
die. 

Thus,  sir,  he  has  left  us  to  chase  for  a  little  while 
longer  the  shadows  which  he  has  exchanged  for  un- 
utterable realities.  He  has  left  us  prematurely  for 
every  thing  but  his  spotless  name,  and  his  entrance 
on  the  well-earned  honors  of  his  unambitious  career. 
And  we.  Senators,  for  all  the  interchange  of  kind- 
ness ;  for  all  the  cordial  intercourse  of  private  life ; 
for  all  the  acts  of  co-operation  in  the  public  service, 
to  which  for  at  least  four  years  the  Senate  was 
looking  forward  in  its  connection  with  him,  have 
nothing  left  to  offer  to  his  friends  and  his  memory, 
but  the  unavailing  tribute  of  this  last  mournful 
farewell. 

Mr.  President,  I  second  the  resolutions  of  the 
Senator  from  Vir^rinia. 


^  


15 


MR.  CASS,  of  Michigan. 

Mr.  President  : — Again  has  death  invaded  the 
high  places  of  our  land,  and  has  taken  from  us  a 
citizen  distinguished  hy  his  tfilents,  his  worth,  and 
his  services,  and  enjoying  the  confidence  and  affec- 
tion of  his  countrymen.  In  the  Providence  of  God,  * 
these  visitations  come  to  warn  us  that  none  are 
exempt  from  the  decree,  that  in  life  we  are  in  the 
midst  of  death,  and  that  "  Be  ye  ali^o  ready"  is  a  so- 
lemn admonition  announced  to  us  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave,  by  the  mighty  and  the  lowly,  as  they  suc- 
cessively fall  before  the  great  destroyer.  The  lesson 
is  the  more  impressive,  the  higher  is  the  position, 
and  the  more  eminent  the  character  of  him  whose 
departure  we  may  be  called  upon  to  mourn.  And 
when  one  who  occupied  the  second  station  in  our 
country  is  summoned  from  the  duties  of  this  life  to 
the  responsibility  of  that  which  is  to  come,  as  the 
loss  is  a  national  one,  the  manifestations  of  public 
sympathy  and  the  acknowledgment  of  the  public 
grief  should  be  national  also.  Our  lamented  friend, 
the  late  Vice-President,  has  been  taken  from  us,  full 
of  years  indeed,  and  of  honors,  but  in  the  midst  of 
his  usefulness,  and  when  he  was  just  prepared  to 
enter  upon  the  high  career  to  which  he  had  been 
called  by  the  xAmerican  people.  Upon  this  occasion 
I  desire  to  do  little  more  than  to  express  those  senti- 
ments of  affectionate  regard  with  which  an  acquaint- 
ance  of  many  years  had   inspired  me,  leaving  to 


16 

others,  who  have  this  day  well  fulfilled  the  task,  to 
present  those  features  of  his  character  and  services 
which  endeared  him  to  his  countrymen  in  life,  and 
will  endear  to  them  his  memory,  now  that  the  scenes 
of  life  are  for  ever  closed  upon  him. 

His  career  was  eminently  useful  and  fortunate; 
and  in  the  whole  range  of  American  statesmen  there 
are  few,  indeed,  to  whom  our  youth  can  better  look, 
when  seeking  models  of  imitation  and  encourage- 
ment, than  to  William  K.  King. 

Firm  but  courteous,  frank  and  fearless,  of  high 
honor  and  irreproachable  morals,  he  brought  a 
vigorous  intellect,  and  varied  and  extensive  in- 
formation, to  the  public  councils ;  and  the  ripe  fruit 
of  his  experience,  joined  to  these  endowments,  gave 
conviction  to  his  opinion,  and  authority  to  his  ex- 
ample. We  always  heard  him  with  attention,  for  he 
elucidated  every  subject  he  investigated,  and  brought 
to  our  discussions  the  stores  of  his  knowledge  and 
experience,  with  a  manner  as  unassuming  as  it  was 
captivating.  While  loving  the  State  in  which  he 
so  long  resided,  and  which  had  given  him  so  many 
proofs  of  confidence  and  affection,  he  loved  also  our 
common  country,  and  at  home  and  fibroad  proved 
himself  the  true  patriot,  the  able  and  faithful  citizen. 
In  all  the  relations  of  private  life  he  was  loved  and 
honored,  as  well  from  the  amenity  of  his  manner 
as  from  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  and  in  the  social 
circle  he  was  the  very  model  of  the  accomplished 


IT 

gentleman.  For  almost  half  a  century  he  was  in 
the  public  service,  and  was  intimately  connected 
with  many  of  the  great  events  which  marked  that 
long  and  stirring  period,  and  he  proved  himself  equal 
to  all  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed, 
sustaining  himself  with  signal  ability  among  men 
whose  renown  is  written  in  imperishable  characters 
upon  the  history  of  our  country. 

But  better  than  all  this,  and  above  all  this,  he 
was  a  sincere  Christian  ;  adding  another  to  the  long 
list  of  eminent  men  who  have  searched  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  and  have  found  it  the  will  and  word  of 
God.  In  his  last  illness,  when  the  world  and  the 
things  of  the  world  were  fast  fading  before  him,  he 
found  hope  and  consolation  in  the  promises  of  the 
Saviour;  and  calmly  surveying  the  approach  of 
death,  he  looked  beyond  its  power  to  the  glorious 
immortality  promised  to  the  believer.  The  places 
that  knew  him  will  know  him  no  more ;  but,  though 
dead,  his  memory  is  embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen,  and  there  it  wall  live,  honored  and 
cherished,  long  after  all  those  who  are  now  taking  part 
in  this  tribute  to  his  worth  shall  have  followed  him  in 
the  journey,  where,  for  a  brief  space,  he  has  preceded 
us  through  the  dark  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death. 

MR.  DOUGLASS,  of  Illinois. 

I  can  scarcely  hope  to  add  any  thing  of  value 
to  what  has  been  so  well  said  by  others.     For  the 


«« 


«• 


18 

last  eight  months,  the  mournful  event  which  is  now 
officially  announced  to  the  Senate  has  been  known, 
felt,  and  lamented  by  us  all.  In  the  mean  time,  we 
have  passed  through  scenes  well  calculated  to  engross 
our  thoughts  and  divert  our  attention,  if  not  to  ob- 
scure the  freshness  of  the  first  impression,  or  assuage 
the  keenness  of  that  sorrow  which  filled  every  heart. 
But  no  matter  what  the  lapse  of  time  or  its  results, 
the  meeting  of  the  Senate,  and  the  absence  of  one 
whom  all  admired  and  loved,  and  delighted  to  greet 
and  honor,  call  up  associations  and  reminiscences 
w^iich  impart  to  the  occasion  all  the  effects  of  a 
sudden  and  unexpected  bereavement.  Those  whose 
happiness  it  was  to  be  associated  with  Colonel  King 
in  public  duty  and  private  intercourse,  are  alone 
capable  of  realizing  the  extent  of  our  loss.  His  ex- 
ample in  all  the  relations  life,  public  and  private, 
may  be  safely  commended  to  our  children  as  worthy 
of  imitation.  Few  men  in  this  country  have  ever 
served  the  public  for  so  long  a  period  of  time,  and 
with  a  more  fervent  patriotism  or  unblemished 
reputation.  For  forty-five  years  he  devoted  his 
energies  and  talents  to  the  performance  of  arduous 
public  duties — always  performing  his  trust  with 
fidelity  and  ability,  and  never  failing  to  command 
the  confidence,  admiration,  and  gratitude  of  an  en- 
lightened constituency.  While  he  held,  in  succession, 
numerous  official  stations,  in  each  of  which  he  main- 
tained and  enhanced  his  previous  reputation,  yet  the 


-^ 


<$) 


19 

Senate  was  the  place  of  his  choice,  and  the  theatre 
of  his  greatest  usefulness.  Here  he  sustained  an 
enviable  reputation  during  a  period  of  thirty  years' 
senatorial  service,  always  manifesting  his  respect  for 
the  body  by  his  courtesy  and  propriety  of  deport- 
ment. Here,  where  his  character  was  best  under- 
stood, and  his  usefulness  and  virtues  most  highly 
appreciated,  his  loss,  as  a  public  man  and  a  private 
friend,  is  most  painfully  felt  and  deeply  lamented. 

MR.  CLAYTON,  of  Delaware. 

I  shall  only  pay  a  debt  of  honor  to  the 
spirit  of  the  dead,  by  offering  my  humble  testi- 
monial in  addition  to  what  has  been  so  appro- 
priately and  eloquently  expressed  by  others.  A 
quarter  of  a  century  has  elapsed  since  I  became 
acquainted  with  William  R.  King  as  a  brother  Se- 
nator on  this  floor.  During  the  greater  part  of  that 
long  period  I  was  an  attentive  observer  of  his  course 
as  a  public  man,  and  I  cannot  in  justice  remain  silent 
when  an  opportunity  is  offered  of  paying  a  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  one  who  so  honorably  deserved  it. 

That  man  who,  dying,  can  be  said  to  have  passed 
his  days  without  a  stain  upon  his  reputation,  has 
justly  earned  the  honors  due  to  a  wellspent  life. 
The  Roman  poet  has  immortalized  the  sentiment — 

^'  Nee  male  vixit,  qui  natus  moriensque  fefellit." 

But  William  R.  King,  who  was  everywhere  known. 


ife" 


i»- 


20 

may  be  truly  said  to  have  passed  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave  without  a  blot  upon  his  name. 

The  chief  part  of  his  history  is  written  upon  the 
records  of  this  Senate,  in  which  his  high  character 
as  a  legislator  and  a  statesman  was  firmly  established. 
I  would  avoid  the  commonplaces  employed  on  oc- 
casions similar  to  the  present  when  speaking  of  such 
a  man.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  of  him  that  he  per- 
formed his  duties  well  as  a  member  of  the  Senate. 
He  was  distinguished  by  the  scrupulous  correctness 
of  his  conduct.  He  was  remarkable  for  his  quiet 
and  unobtrusive,  but  active,  practical  usefulness  as  a 
legislator.  He  was  emphatically  a  business  memher 
of  the  Senate,  and  without  ostentation,  originated 
and  perfected  more  useful  measures  than  many  who 
filled  the  public  eye  hj  greater  displaj^,  and  daily 
commanded  the  applause  of  a  listening  Senate.  He 
never  sought  with  some  of  his  contemporaries  to  earn 
a  brilliant  reputation  by  the  exhibition  of  splendid 
powers  of  oratory ;  and,  to  his  honor  be  it  spoken, 
he  never  vexed  the  ear  of  the  Senate  with  ill-timed, 
tedious,  or  unnecessary  debate.  He  preferred  to  be 
checked  for  silence  rather  than  to  be  tasked  for 
speech.  Yet,  on  all  occasions  when  a  great  issue 
was  before  the  country,  calling  for  the  exercise  of 
manly  firmness,  courage,  and  patriotism,  Mr.  King 
was  abreast  with  those  who  stood  foremost  for  the 
safety  and  the  glory  of  the  Republic. 

He  graced  the  chair  of  the   Senate  longer  than 


««) 


21 


any  other  man  that  ever  occupied  it — not  continu- 
ously, or  by  virtue  merely  of  repeated  election's  as 
our  temporary  President,  but  often  also  at  the  request 
of  the  Presiding  Officer.  I  think  he  was  thus  engaged 
in  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  President  of  the 
Senate  during  the  greater  part  of  the  terms  of  five 
Vice-Presidents ;  and  at  last  he  reached  the  second 
office  in  the  gift  of  the  people — an  office  excelled  in 
honor  only  by  one  other  in  the  world.  To  preside 
over  such  an  assembly  as  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  do  that  as  he  did  it,  was  enough  to 
satisfy  the  highest  aspirations  of  an  honorable  and 
patriotic  ambition.  In  this  elevated  position  he  was 
distinguished  (and  I  may  add  he  was  never  excelled) 
for  the  dignity  of  his  deportment,  the  impartiality 
of  his  decisions,  and  the  promptness  and  fidelity  with 
which  he  maintained  the  order  and  enforced  the  rules 
of  this  body.  I  can  remember  no  instance  in  which 
he  lost  sight  of  what  was  due  to  his  own  self-respect 
or  the  rights  of  his  political  opponents,  by  the  indul- 
gence of  party  feelings  in  the  chair.  Presiding,  as 
he  did,  when  party  spirit  raged  in  torrents  of  fire, 
all  just  men  will  admit  that  he  could  have  been  no 
common  man  who  maintained  his  high  character  for 
justice  and  impartiality  at  such  a  period.  A  little 
man,  at  that  time,  would  have  shown  his  littleness 
by  yielding  himself  up  as  an  instrument  of  oppression 
to  the  minority.  But  he  sought  an  honest  and 
enduring  fame,  and  he  obtained  it  without  the  em- 


•i) 


22 

ploy  men  t  of  any  unworthy  means,  or  the  slightest 
sacrifice  of  principle.  He  engaged  no  hireling  press, 
no  mercenary  libeller  to  traduce  others,  or  to  trumpet 
his  own  fame.  He  paid  respect  to  the  feelings  of 
others,  and  rigidly  exacted  the  observance  of  the 
>same  respect  for  himself.  Generous  as  he  was  brave, 
his  conduct  to  his  opponents  suffering  under  defeat, 
was  always  liberal  and  kind ;  and,  by  his  inflexible 
truth,  he  won  the  entire  confidence  of  men  of  all 
parties  in  his  own  unblemished  honor. 

Others  have  spoken  of  his  services  in  other  places, 
but  I  shall  speak  of  nothing  to  which  I  was  not  a 
witness.  While  Mr.  King  remained  in  the  Senate, 
there  was  still  one  member  of  the  body  who  had 
served  with  me  on  this  floor  during  the  memorable 
^  session  of  1829-30,  and  the  earlier  years  of  Presi- 
dent Jackson's  administration.  It  is  melancholy  to 
reflect  that  nearlv  all  the  rest  of  the  Senators  of 
that  period  have  closed  their  career  on  earth,  and 
that  not  one  of  those  who  survive  remains  here  with 
me  to-day. 

The  master-spirits  of  the  time  were  among  the 
Senators  of  that  day.  I  speak  not  of  the  living. 
But  here,  then,  were  Clay,  Calhoun,  Forsyth,  Web- 
ster, and  Livingston,  the  learned  and  laborious  Wood- 
bury, the  astute  Grundy,  the  witt}',  sarcastic,  and 
ever-ready  Holmes,  the  classic  Bobbins,  and,  among 
many  others  justly  distinguished,  the  graceful  and 
accomplished  orator  of  Carolina,  Robert  Y.  Hayne, 


23 

"  "Whose  words  had  such  a  meltinor  flow. 
And  spoke  of  truth  so  sweetly  well, 
They  dropp'd  like  the  serenest  snow, 

And  all  was  brightness  where  they  fell." 

Oh !  I  could  enumerate,  and  delight  to  dwell  on, 
the  virtues  of  them  all — and  then  revert  to  him 
whose  fiime  we  now  commemorate,  as  to  one  not  in- 
ferior  in  integrity  and  honor  to  the  proudest  among 
them.  But  these  reminiscences  are  attended  by  the 
mournful  reflection  that  our  connections  with  them 
in  this  world  are  ended  for  ever — 

"Around  us,  each  dissever'd  chain 
In  sparkling  ruin  lies, 
And  earthly  hands  can  ne'er  again 
Unite  those  broken  ties." 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

MR.  HUNTER. 

As  a  further  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of 
the  deceased,  I  move  that  the  Senate  do  now  ad- 
journ. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to,  and  the  Senate  ad- 
journed to  Monday. 


m  'S) 


HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

.    Thursday,  December  8,  1853. 

A  MESSAGE  was  received  from  the  Senate  by  the  hands 
of  AsBURY  DiCKEXS,  its  Secretary,  as  follows : 

In  Senate,  December  8,  1853. 

Resolved  unanimoudy,  That  from  respect  to  the  late 
William  R.  King,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
and  President  of  the  Senate,  the  chair  of  the  President  be 
shrouded  with  black ;  and  as  a  further  testimony  of  respect 
for  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  the  members  of  the  Senate 
will  go  into  mourning  by  wearing  crape  on  the  left  arm  for 
thirty  days. 

Ordered,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  communicate 
this  resolution  to  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  message  having  been  read — 

MR.  HARRIS,  of  Alabama,  rose  and  said : 

Mr.  Speaker  : — The  tidings  of  the  mournful 
event  which  the  resolution  from  the  Senate  is  in- 
tended to  commemorate,  have  months  ago  been 
heralded  to  every  hamlet  of  our  wide-spread  con- 
federacy; and  the  generous  hearts  of  even  distant 

24 


•* 


25 

lands  have  mingled  their  regrets  with  our  own,  that 
a  wise  and  virtuous  and  distinguished  man  has  been  . 
stricken  from  the  number  of  earth's  children.  Tears 
have  ceased  to  flow;  and  hearts  the  most  deeply 
penetrated  by  the  afflicting  visitation  of  Providence, 
have  learned  to  contemplate  it  with  that  spirit  of 
resignation  which  time  ever  supplies  as  a  medicine 
for  the  sorrows  of  earth. 

But  in  conformity  with  a  solemn  and  impressive 
usa2:e,  the  Senate,  over  whose  deliberations  the  dis- 
tinguished  dead  so  long  presided  with  sucTi  marked 
ability,  pauses  from  its  labors  to  consecrate  a  brief 
day  to  the  memory  of  William  K.  King.  And  while 
the  sympathizing  sons  of  sister  States  gather  around 
his  bier,  I  crave  the  indulgence  of  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, while,  in  behalf  of  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama, I  offer  the  tribute  of  her  homage  and  respect 
to  the  memory  of  her  most  distinguished  citizen. 

Recent  events,  familiar  to  us  all,  render  unneces- 
sary any  thing  more  than  a  cursory  allusion  to  the 
political  services  of  William  R.  King.  ^^ 

He  was  born  on  the  7th  day  of  April,  t;.7»6,  in 
the  State  of  North  Carolina.  Coming  into  being 
almost  contemporaneously  with  the  adoption  of  our 
Federal  Constitution,  his  eventful  and  protracted  life 
covers  one  of  the  most  remarkable  periods  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  When  the  dawn  of  mature 
manhood  first  began  to  open  upon  him,  the  great  ex- 
periment of  self-government,  whose  principles  were 


1 


mmM 


26 

evolved  from  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  had  just 
fiiirly  emerged  from  the  misty  domain  of  specula- 
tion, and  assumed  the  form  and  semblance  of  a 
philosophic  truth.  Instinct  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  and  true,  as  he  proved  to  be  through  life,  to 
tlie  principles  of  the  republican  school,  he  connect- 
ed his  fortunes  with  that  party  which  claimed,  as 
the  exponents  of  its  political  faith,  Jefferson  and 
Madison. 

He  had  no  sooner  attained  his  majority  than  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  his 
native  county.  He  was  re-elected  the  ensuing  year; 
but  the  Legislature  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
having  conferred  upon  him  the  Solicitorship  of  the 
judicial  circuit  in  which  he  resided,  he  resigned  his 
seat  in  that  body.  After  holding  the  office  of  Soli- 
citor for  two  years,  he  was  again  returned  to  the 
Legislature  for  the  years  1808-0.  Li  1810,  so 
soon  as  he  had  attained  the  age  prescribed  by  the 
Constitution,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress 
from  tlie  Wilmington  district,  in  which  body  he  con- 
tinued to  serve  until  the  year  181G.  During  this 
period  of  American  history,  there  were  just  ascend- 
ing from  the  verge  of  the  political  horizon,  and 
rapidly  tending  toward  the  zenith,  names  which 
were  destined  to  illustrate  the  irreatness  of  our 
country,  and  impress  themselves  imperishably 
upon  her  monumental  records.  That  immortal 
triumvirate,     Calhoun,     Clay,     and    Webster,    for 


27 

whose  decease  the  sable  habiliments  of  a  nation's 
wo  have  scarce  disappeared,  were  just  then  be- 
ginning to  exhibit  the  giant  proportions  of  their 
unmatched  intellects,  and  entrancing  their  country- 
men and  the  world  by  the  electric  power  of  their 
resistless  eloquence.  Kandolph  and  Lowndes  were 
there  too — and  other  great  names  indelibly  secured 
by  the  diamond  pen  of  history's  muse.  Among  these 
stood  William  K.  King,  a  co-w^orker  and  a  compeer. 
Differing  somewhat  fi'om  them  all  in  many  gf  those 
great  attributes  of  mind,  which  dazzle  and  lead  cap- 
tive the  admiring  throng;  yet  in  all  the  elements 
w^hich  go  to  make  up  the  useful  legislator — in  pru- 
^  dence,  caution,  firmness,  wisdom,  and  patriotism — 
occupying  with  them  the  same  proud  pedestal;  and 
lending  his  influence  and  his  voice  to  the  successful 
vindication  of  "  free  trade  and  sailors'  rights." 

In  1816,  Mr.  King,  having  been  tendered  the 
appointment  of  Secretary  of  Legation  under  Mr. 
Pinckney,  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress,  and  ac- 
companied that  distinguished  statesman,  first  to 
Naples,  and  afterward  to  St.  Petersburg.  Having 
returned  home  at  the  expiration  of  two  years,  he 
determined  to  break  from  the  endearments  of  his 
fiitherland,  and  cast  his  fortunes  in  the  then  almost 
unpeopled  wilds  of  distant  Alabama.  This  land 
w^as  now  to  constitute  the  theatre  of  his  after  use- 
fulness. God  ffave  him  sufficient  length  of  davs  to 
see  "  the  wilderness  blossom  as  the  rose ;"  and  be- 


28 

hold  the  territory  which  he  had  adopted  as  his 
home,  emerge  from  its  chrysalis  state  to  the  full- 
blown condition  of  a  sovereign  party  to  the  Union, 
and,  under  the  nurturing  appliances  of  intellect  and 
industry,  attaining  a  degree  of  wealth  and  prosperity 
commensurate  with  his  own  increasing  fame. 

Soon  after  Mr.  King's  arrival  in  the  Territory,  he 
was    deputed  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  which 
assembled  to  organize  a  State  government.     To  the 
performance  of  the  delicate  and  responsible  duties 
of   this  new  position,   he  brought  the  aid  of  that 
matured  experience  he  had  gathered  in  the  councils 
of  the  Union,  and  was  one  of  the  most  active  and 
efficient  of  those  who  laid  the  foundations  of  our 
State  polity.     So  soon  as  the  constitution  was  put 
in  operation,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the    Senators 
from    that    State    in   the    Congress   of  the    United 
States.     From  that  period,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  the  time 
when  the  voice  of  all  the  people  of  the  Union  called 
William  K.  King  to  the  second  office  in  their  gift — 
a  period  of  more  than  thirty  years,  he  continued  to 
speak  for  Alabama  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate ; 
saving  the  brief  period  of  two  years — during  which 
time  he  represented  this  government  at  the  Court 
of  St.  Cloud.     In  verity,  he  was  to  Alabama  a  true 
and  faithful  son,  as  she  was  unto  him  a  cherishing 
mother!     Truly   has   he  filled   the   measure    of   a 
patriot's  duty,  for  his  entire   life   was   devoted    to 
the  service  of  his  country. 


»S) 


29 

As  may  justly  be  inferred,  from  the  long  and  un- 
checked career  of  success  which  distinguished  the 
life  of  Mr.  King,  and  the  respect  and  confidence  he 
always  enjoyed,  his  popularity  was  not  the  result 
of  those  factitious  aids  which  give  to  demagogues 
and  political  tricksters  an  ephemeral  existence,  but 
was  the  natural  consequence  and  well-deserved  re- 
compense of  his  exalted  qualities  of  head  and  heart. 
For  forty  years  he  brought  to  his  country's  use  the 
rich  gifts  of  his  patriotism  and  his  wisdom — the 
glowing  energies  of  his  early  manhood,  and  the  ma- 
tured counsels  of  a  wise  and  honorable  old  age.  In- 
telligence, honesty,  and  fidelity  distinguished  the 
administration  of  every  public  trust  confided  to  his 
hands.  Amid  all  the  fluctuations  of  public  senti- 
ment, and  all  the  mutations  of  party,  he  pursued  the 
path  of  duty  by  the  light  of  principle,  and  dying, 
leaves  behind  him  an  example  of  consistency  and 
public  virtue,  upon  which  the  patriot  may  ponder 
with  pleasure,  and  from  which  the  mere  aspirant  for 
w^orldly  honor  may  draw  an  instructive  lesson.  His 
life  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  truth,  that  the 
line  of  duty  is  alike  the  path  of  safety  and  the  way 
to  honor. 

The  personal  character  of  Mr.  King  was  affluent 
in  all  those  qualities  which  contribute  to  the  forma- 
tion of  an  almost  perfect  man.  To  w^isdom  and 
patriotism  as  a  statesman,  to  love  of  right,  and 
devotion  to  principle,  he  added  a  temper  respectful 


m' 


30 

and  courteous  to  others;  a  courage  unquestioned,  and 
honor  intact.  No  stain  blurred  the  pure  ermine  of 
his  good  name.  Conceding  to  all  men  the  full  mea- 
sure of  what  was  their  due,  he  was  punctilious  in  the 
exaction  of  what  was  due  to  himself  Exempt  from 
that  acrimony  which  party  collision  too  often  en- 
genders, and  always  tolerant  of  the  opinions  of  others, 
he  was  inflexible  and  unswerving  in  the  maintenance 
of  his  own— ^ 

"  Yir  Justus,  et  tenax  propositi.'* 

In  all  those  more  intimate  and  tender  relations 
wdiich  bound  him  to  his  friends,  his  kindred,  and  his 
servants,  he  was  all  that  friendship  could  ask,  or  affec- 
tion claim,  or  humanity  and  kindness  enjoin.  While 
in  that  higher  and  more  solemn  relation,  which  he 
bore  to  the  Author  of  us  all,  he  was  exact  and  scru- 
pulous in  the  discharge  of  all  those  duties  enjoined 
by  a  regard  for  the  sacred  behests  of  religion ; — and 
in  the  closing  scenes  of  life's  fleeting,  final  hour,  he 
leaned  with  humble  trust  upon  the  merits  of  his 
Saviour. 

"  His  life  was  gentle — and  the  elements 

r 

So  mix'd  in  him,  that  nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  th^  world — '  This  was  a  man.'  " 

In  the  first  month  of  this  year,  the  Vice-President 
resigned  his  post  of  Presiding  Oflicer  of  the  Senate, 
with  the  vain  hope  that  a  winter  residence  in  Cuba 
might  ameliorate  his  health.    But  the  balmy  breezes 


31 

of  the  ocean  gem  could  not  relume  the  waning  fire 
that  flickered  to  itvS  close.  Death  was  demanding  its 
victim,  and  the  dying  patriot  felt  that  he  must  need 
obey  the  summons.  He  hastened  home  from  Cuba 
to  spend  his  last  hours  among  the  friends  who 
watched  with  such  intense  solicitude  his  gradual 
decline.  Like  the  imprisoned  monarch  whose  life 
went  out  on  the  storm-rocked  island  of  the  sea,  he 
did  not  wish  to  sleep  upon  a  foreign  strand,  but 
rather  on  the  banks  of  the  Alabama,  "in  the  bosom 
of  the  people  he  had  loved  so  well,"  and  served  so 
faithfully.  In  the  midst  of  that  people  he  died — 
beneath  that  sod  he  takes  his  final  rest.  But  a  fra- 
grance shall  still  cling  around  his  memory,  exhaled 
from  the  clustering  virtues  which  beautified  his  cha- 
racter. Calmly  he  confronted  the  icy  monster ;  and 
with  Christian  dignity,  resigned  him  to  his  fate. 
"Be  silent,"  said  he,  to  the  anxious  friends  around 
him,  "  let  me  die  quietly."  Silence  prevailed,  and 
quietly  his  noble  spirit  passed  to  the  land  of  shadows. 

"  He  sat,  as  sets  the  morning  star,  which  goes 
Not  down  behind  the  darken' d  west,  nor  hides 
Obscured  amid  the  tempests  of  the  sky — 
But  melts  away  into  the  light  of  heaven." 

How  fruitful,  Mr.  Speaker,  in  admonition  to  us, 
who  were  associated  with  Mr.  King  in  the  direction 
of  this  great  Government,  and  who  now  survive 
him,  are  the  circumstances  which  give  such  melan- 
choly prominence  to  the  closing  hofirs  of  his  life. 

m  ^ 


Upon  the  full  tide  of  an  almost  jDopular  acclaim,  he 
had  been  just  elevated  to  one  of  the  most  exalted 
stations  of  the  earth.  But  along  with  the  flattering 
consciousness  of  popular  confidence  and  merited  pro- 
motion, came  the  stunning  sense  that  life's  decaying 
energies  were  sinking  to  the  grave.  While  the  joyous 
gratulations  of  an  admiring  peoj^le  were  welling  up 
from  the  depths  of  the  nation's  heart,  and  falling 
with  thrilling  accents  upon  the  ear  of  gratified  am- 
bition, there  was  mingling  with  them  another  voice 
from  the  spirit-land,  whose  tones  were  heard  above 
the  loud  tumult  of  popular  applause,  and  calling  to 
the  fiiiling  statesman — 

"  Child  of  the  dust,  come  away  I'' 

The  garlands  had  been  thrust  upon  the  victim,  only 
that  it  might  prove  a  more  fitting  sacrifice  for  the 
altar,  which  already  smoked  for  its  immolation. 
What  a  humiliating  mockery  of  earth's  a.spirations, 
which  end  in  nothingness — of  its  evanescent  honors, 
which  vanish  at  the  touch !  and  how  strikingly  sug- 
gestive of  the  solemn  reflection  that 

"  The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave." 
Mr.  Speaker,  I  offer  the  following  resolution : 

liesolved^  That  from  an  unfeigned  respect  to  the  late 
William  11.  King,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and 
President  of  the  Senate,  the  Speaker's  chair  be  shrouded  ii\ 
black  during  the  present  session  of  Congress ;  and,  as  a  fur- 
ther testimony  o^  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased^ 


-* 


g)  9 

33 

the  members  and  officers  of  this  House  Tvill  go  into  monrn- 
ing,  and  wear  black  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  As  a  further  mark  of  respect,  that  this  House 
do  now  adjourn. 

MR.  CHANDLER,  of  Pennsylvania,  rose  and  said — 
Mr.  Speaker  : — The  spectacle  presented  in  this 
House,  at  the  present  moment,  is  replete  with  instruc- 
tion and  encouragement. 

The  representatives  of  a  great  nation  pause,  in  the 
midst  of  the  initiation  of  legislative  business,  to  ex- 
press respect  for  a  citizen  who  owed  his  elevation 
less  to  those  striking  qualities  that  are  sure  to  excite 
public  interest  and  insure  popular  favor,  than  to 
those  gentle  virtues  w^hich  are  so  slow  to  secure 
general  appreciation. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  paying  the 
tribute  of  gratitude  to  the  departed  functionary,  de- 
clares that  it  commemorates  the  virtue  by  which  he 
achieved  elevation,  and  thus  it  connects  purity  of 
social  life  with  the  honors  of  official  distinction. 

The  Representatives  from  the  State  of  Alabama 
have  requested  me  to  take  a  part  in  the  discharge  of 
the  melancholy  duties  in  which  this  House  is  now 
engaged.  It  is  an  honor  to  be  called  to  do  honor  to 
the  memory  of  the  good;  and  patriotism  finds  a 
grateful  exercise  in  recalling  the  obligations  under 
which  the  nation  rests  to  those  who  have  done  ser- 
vice to  her  in  places  of  distinction. 

3 

i) 


34 

I  should  have  promptly  declined  the  service,  if  I 
did  not  believe  that  my  colleagues,  the  Representa- 
tives of  Pennsylvania  on  this  floor,  shared  in  the 
sentiments  of  respect  for  the  dead  which  I  entertain, 
but  which  I  shall  so  feebly  express  3  and  while  they 
and  their  constituents,  and  mine,  judge  according  to 
their  various  political  creeds,  of  the  public  measures 
which  are  connected  with  the  name  and  services  of 
the  deceased,  they  have  looked  through  the  mist 
with  which  party  hostility  and  party  partiality  alike 
invest  their  objects,  and  have  done  honor  to  the 
purity  of  motive  and  the  consistency  of  patriotism, 
in  which  those  measures  were  proposed  or  advocated. 

I  do  not  suppose,  that  in  the  tribute  which  we  are 
now  paying  to  the  memory  of  a  distinguished  states- 
man, we  are  acquitting  ourselves,  as  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  country 
for  services  through  years  of  unremitted  devotion. 
Sir,  while  the  nation  shall  enjoy  the  prosperity  with 
which  she  is  now  blessed,  she  will  feel  and  confess 
her  obligations  to  those  whose  talents,  virtues,  and 
devotion  procured  the  blessing.  And  should  adverse 
circumstances  overtake  us,  we  should  then  recall  the 
lessons  of  wisdom  and  patriotism  which  the  lives  and 
services  of  our  good  men  impart ;  and  while  we  should 
lament  the  consequences  of  a  neglect  of  their  exam- 
ples and  precepts,  we  should  do  honor  to  virtues 
which  we  had  ceased  to  imitate,  and  venerate  the 
patriotism  which,  we  had  forgotten  to  follow.  * 


a- 


The  gentleman  who  has  preceded  me  has  given  to 
the  House  a  sketch  of  the  public  services  of  the  late 
Vice-President  KixG.  It  is  an  instructive  lesson ; 
one  that  we  should  "  teach  diligently  unto  our  chil- 
dren." One  that  at  the  present  time  comes  with 
peculiar  pertinency,  and  seems  to  illustrate  the 
nature  of  our  institutions,  and  to  encourage  the 
growth  of  quiet,  unobtrusive  virtues,  by  showing  the 
ability  of  the  people  to  appreciate,  and  their  willing- 
ness to  reward  them.  The  history  of  our  country 
shows  that  consummate  statesmanship  may  be  com- 
bined with  the  possession  and  professional  exercise 
of  military  skill.  The  halls  of  legislation,  and  the 
bureaus  of  the  Departments  have  been  the  arenas  of 
noble  and  successful  efforts  of  those  who  came  from 
the  activity  of  the  camp  to  take  part  in  peaceful 
forensic  contests,  or  to  discharge  the  duties  of  minis- 
terial office.  And  we  have  seen  the  accomplished 
warrior  lay  aside  his  military  trappings,  and  assume 
the  garb  and  discharge  the  duties  of  the  first  office 
of  our  nation. 

But  while  these  things  show  the  versatility  of 
genius,  and  the  wonderful  adaptation  of  mental 
powers,  they  lead  sometimes  to  the  apprehension 
that  the  people,  who  seemed  so  struck  with  the  ser- 
vices of  the  military  man,  would  overlook  the  unob- 
trusive qualities  of  the  civilian,  and  forget  that 
patriotism  has  its  services  and  its  sacrifices  in  the 
halls  of  legislation  and  the  walks  of  diplomacy ;  and 


•» 


Sf 


36 

that  the  qualifications  for  lofty  place  were  to  be 
manifested  in  the  silent,  laborious,  unpretending  pri- 
vacy of  the  closet,  as  well  as  in  the  more  stirring 
and  striking  duties  of  military  life. 

The  official  life  of  Mr.  King  redeems  the  people  of 
the  United  States  from  imputations  of  a  false  esti- 
mate by  a  false  standard  of  the  services  of  their 
public  functionaries,  and  it  shows  how  much  con- 
fidence may  be  j)laced  in  their  judgment  of  the  capa- 
bility of  men  to  discharge  distinguished  trusts. 

The  manners  of  Mr.  King  were  unobtrusive,  re- 
tiring, gentle.  No  appearance,  no  act  of  his  could 
be  regarded  as  ch  alien  "in  o;   attention.     He  moved 

C  CO 

among  his  fellow-men  w^ith  manifestations  of  constant 
respect  for  their  rights  and  their  positions;  and 
among  his  fellow-legislators  he  was  distinguished  by 
that  constant  deference  to  others  which  is  the  cha- 
racteristic of  excessive  modesty  and  available  talents. 
Abroad,  sir,  in  Europe,  he  presented  himself  with  no 
demands,  as  a  man,  upon  the  consideration  of  others, 
and  no  claim  to  distinction,  in  the  free  use  of  his 
ample  means.  But  as  the  representative  of  a  nation 
of  freemen,  he  claimed  the  regard  which  his  repre- 
sentative character  challenged,  and  he  maintained 
social  hospitalities  with  the  profusion  which  his 
ample  means  warranted,  and  his  generous  patriotism 
suggested. 

Mr.  King,  sir,  was  a  party  man.  Few  men,  Mr. 
Speaker,  attain  political  distinction  in  a  country  like 


-1 


37 


ours  without  party  attachments  and  party  feelings. 
And  none  will  more  readily  pardon  Mr.  King  for  his 
efforts  for  party  measures  than  those,  who,  differing 
from  him  in  politics,  know  by  the  purity  of  their  own 
motives  how  to  do  justice  to  the  sincerity  of  those 
by  which  he  was  influenced;  and  this  the  more 
readily,  because  the  courteous  bearing  of  that  distin- 
guished man  deprived  his  opposition  of  all  appear- 
ance of  bitterness,  drew  from  the  defeat  of  his  oppo- 
nents, when  their  defeat  ensued,  the  sting  of  morti- 
fied self  esteem,  or  imparted  to  his  own  discomfort 
the  ease  of  gentlemanly  submission. 

Sir,  from  the  quiet  walks  of  life,  that  seemed  at 
first  to  promise  little  eminence,  Mr.  King  rose  to  the 
second  office  in  this  great  republic ;  attaining  that 
position,  too,  in  the  midst  of  all  his  country's  great- 
ness, in  the  midst  of  all  her  amplitude  of  extent,  and 
in  the  midst  of  all  her  profusion  of  means;  more 
than  that,  sir,  in  the  midst  of  all  her  munificence 
of  men. 

Though  absent,  sir,  absent  to  die,  far  from  the  im- 
mediate seat  of  his  duties,  yet  the  memory  of  his 
excellence  and  purity  sustained  him  in  the  affection 
and  respect  of  his  brethren  of  the  Senate  chamber, 
who  seemed  to  feel  it  a  pleasure  as  well  as  a  duty  to 
testify  to  him  their  full  appreciation  of  his  concilia- 
tory habits,  his  sagacity  as  a  statesman,  and  his  jus- 
tice as  their  Presiding  Officer. 

The  annunciation  to-day  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Vice- 


®' 


f 

38 

President  KiXG  conies  to  us,  sir,  witli  no  surprise. 
The  nation  has  ah^eady,  in  some  form,  manifested  its 
regard  for  a  faithful  j)ublic  ser^^ant.  The  announce- 
ment brings  no  monition  of  the  brevity  of  human 
enjoj^ment  and  the  uncertainty  of  human  life.  He 
had  lived  nearly  to  man's  aj)pointed  time,  and  be- 
yond man's  common  lot,  and  had  enjoyed  much 
more  than  ordinary  honors.  It  comes  not  now,  sir, 
to  startle  us  into  any  manifestation  of  special  sorrow. 
Months  have  passed  since  he  breathed  forth  his  gen- 
tle spirit  to  God  who  gave  it :  and  the  poignant  grief 
which  his  death  caused,  even  in  his  limited  family 
circle  has  given  place  to  the  silent  sorrow  that  occu- 
pies itself  in  a  mournful,  placid  recollection  of  the 
virtues  of  the  dead. 

We  listen,  sir,  to-day,  to  the  formal  annunciation 
of  the  demise  of  Mr.  King,  that  we  may,  by  public 
demonstration,  show  to  the  world  our  respect  for 
the  high  office  which  he  vacated  by  his  death,  and 
our  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  moral  qualities  and 
statesmanlike  abilities  by  which  he  illustrated  all 
offices  in  his  life. 

The  addresses  on  this  occasion,  and  the  adoption 
of  the  resolutions  which  are  now  on  the  table,  can 
add  nothing  to  the  future  happiness  of  the  dead — 
cannot  augment  the  fame  which  his  social  virtues 
and  his  public  career  have  earned.  But,  sir,  they  tell 
the  world  that  a  republic  can  be  grateful  to  those 
who  have  done  her  service,  and  that  republicans  can 


(i- 


m  f) 

39 

appreciate  those  gentle  qualities  which  give  dignity 
and  honor  to  a  statesman's  life  and  insure  peace  and 
consolation  to  a  Christian's  death. 

MR.  MILTON  S.  LATHAM,  of  California,  said : 
Mr.  Speaker: — Gratitude  for  the  kindness  of 
Si  friend,  as  well  as  reverence  for  the  greatness  of  a 
man,  prompt  me  to  unite  my  stranger  voice  with 
yours  in  this  mournful  requiem  for  the  departed. 
And  if  an  apology  be  needed^  that  thus  early  I  claim 
your  attention,  let  it  be  enough  to  say  that  from  the 
lips  now  cold  and  fixed,  and  the  voice  now  hushed 
in  death,  came  first  the  encouraging  words  of  counsel 
and  incentive,  the  gentle  tones  of  sympathy  and 
feeling,  that  have  placed  me,  to-day,  among  you.  I 
could  leave  to  the  gentlemen  who  have  preceded 
me,  and  to  the  quiet  meditation  of  my  own  heart,  the 
retrospect  of  his  irreproachable  life,  and  the  rehearsal 
of  the  noble  principles  that  he  so  long  and  firmly 
advocated,  were  it  not  that  over  every  mountain 
and  valley,  every  plain  and  ravine  of  California,  are 
scattered  thick  the  adopted  homes  of  Alabamians, 
who,  while  the  memories  of  their  childhood  are 
fresh,  or  the  graves  of  their  fathers  green,  can  never 
fail,  with  3^ou,  to  remember  the  life  of  the  statesman 
with  exultation,  or  forget  to  mourn  the  daith  of  the 
gooel  man  with  sympathetic  expression.  How  na- 
tural, then,  that  I  should  turn  your  attention  to  a 
few  pages  in  the  history  of  a  man,  who  has  filled 


-D 


40 

every  place  but  one,  to  which  the  ambition  of  an 
American  citizen  may  aspire,  and  has  filled  all  with 
distinguished  credit  to  himself  and  honor  to  the 
country. 

William  Eufus  King  was  a  noble  specimen  of  an 
American  statesman  and  gentleman.  The  intimate 
friend  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  the  contemporary  of 
Webster,  Clay,  Cass,  and  Benton,  he  maintained  a 
proud  position  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
by  his  strong,  practical  good  sense,  his  experience 
and  wisdom  as  a  legislator,  the  acknowledged  recti- 
tude of  his  intentions,  and  that  uniform  urbanity  of 
manner  which  marked,  not  so  much  the  man  of 
conventional  breeding,  as  the  true  gentleman  at 
heart.  He  was  no  sophist  to  himself,  and  hence  it 
was  that  he  was  truthful  and  sincere  to  all  the  world. 
His  course  in  the  Senate  was  considerate  and  digni- 
fied. He  never  yielded  to  the  impulse  of  the  mo- 
ment, but  made  his  tongue  wait  upon  his  judgment. 
He  never  knew  what  it  was  to  speak,  act,  or  legislate 
by  indirection.  He  was  frank  and  loyal  to  his  col- 
leagues, as  he  was  devoted  to  his  own  State,  and 
sincerely  attached  to  the  Union.  Is  it  a  wonder, 
then,  that  the  Senate  listened  to  every  word  which 
fell  from  his  lips ;  that  his  voice  was  potential  when- 
ever it  pleaded  the  cause  of  his  country  ? 

It  is  said  that  during  a  primary  meeting  held  by 
one  of  the  factions  into  which  the  first  French  Na- 
tional Convention  was  divided,  one  of  the  men  who 


.« 


41 

afterward  played  a  most  conspicuous  part  in  history, 
spoke  but  a  few  words,  and  these  without  emphasis. 
Yet  such  was  the  conviction  he  produced,  that  his 
views  w^ere  instantly  adopted.      He   possessed  the 
genius  of  character;  he  believed  what  he  said,  and 
produced  conviction  in  others.     It  is   this  peculiar 
"  genius  of  character"  which  gave  force  and  direction 
to  Mr.  King's  speeches  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  produced  that  deference  to  his  avowed  opinions 
and  principles  which  none  of  his  colleagues  shared 
in  a  more  eminent  degree.     In  all  that  belonged  to 
him  individually,  Mr.  King  was  the  very  type  of  an 
American  gentleman.      Free  from  artifice  and  dis- 
guise, his  every  thought  and  instinct  was  chivalric. 
Not  to  adventitious  circumstances,  not  to  the  chances 
of  birth  or  fortune,  not  to  the  society  into  wdrich  he 
was   thrown,  was   he   indebted  either  for  the  dis- 
tinction to  which  he  rose  in  public  life,  or  to  the 
grace   which    adorned  his   private   character.     He 
never  borrowed  thoughts  or  sentiments  from  others. 
His  mind  and  heart  were  of  American  growth,  wdiile 
his  eminent  virtues  served  to  illustrate  our  national 
character.     As  Americans,  we  recognise  no  standard 
of  greatness  which  is  not  based  on  moral  excellence, 
such     as    pre-eminently    distinguished    the    early 
founders  of  our  institutions  and  laws ;  and,  in  this 
respect,  few  of  the  great  men  whose  names  have 
passed  into  our  history  can  boast  of  a  nearer  ap- 
proach to  those  great  exemplars  than  he  whose  irre- 


-» 


«■ 


42 


parable  loss  we  now  mourn  in  common  with  the 
whole  country.  During  his  long  and  eventful  life, 
of  which  a  very  large  portion  was  spent  in  the 
public  service,  there  is  not  an  act  which  can  be  re- 
ferred to  but  to  his  honor — not  a  suspicion  that 
could  mar  the  purity  and  lustre  of  his  escutcheon. 
Mr.  King  became  a  member  of  the  Senate  in  1819, 
when  the  State  of  Alabama  was  admitted  into  the 
Union,  and  enjoyed  the  honor  of  representing  her, 
with  but  one  intermission,  ever  since.  He  was  a 
member  of  that  body  when  he  was  nominated  for 
the  Yice-Presidency,  and  its  presiding  officer.  The 
respect  of  his  colleagues  had  already  assigned  him 
the  place  to  which  he  was  subsequently  called  by 
the  almost  unanimous  voice  of  the  people.  He  was 
from  principle  and  conviction  a  States'  Rights  man ; 
but  he  did  not  love  the  Union  less  because  he  loved 
Alabama  more.  While  he  was  serving  his  own 
State  with  fidelity  and  honor,  he  was  not  remiss  in 
his  duties  to  the  whole  American  Confederacy. 
Like  his  illustrious  prototyj)e,  John  C.  Calhoun,  he 
battled  for  the  rights  of  his  State,  in  order  to  secure 
that  harmony  between  Federal  and  State  power, 
which  is  the  essence  of  the  Union,  and  without 
which  it  is  impossible  to  preserve  our  system  of  self- 
government.  In  the  memorable  session  of  1849-50, 
Mr.  KixG  voted  for  nearly  all  the  compromise 
measures  as  an  act  of  devotion  to  the  National 
Union,  without  surrendering  a  single  cardinal  point 


t' 


(i' 


43 

of  the  political  faith  which  had  guided  him  through 
life,  and  had  secured  to  him  the  affection  and  at- 
tachment of  the  citizens  of  his  own  State.  The 
most  important  event  in  his  political  history  was 
when  he  represented  the  United  States  in  the  Court 
of  France,  during  a  most  interesting  and  exciting 
period.  It  was  well  known  that  the  governments 
of  England  and  France,  severally  and  jointly,  op- 
posed the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  American 
Union,  and  that  similar  instructions  had  been  given 
by  these  governments  to  their  respective  ministers 
in  Y/'ashington  and  Texas.  These  instructions  were, 
no  doubt,  intended  to  be  used  with  diplomatic  effect ; 
neither  party  seeming  at  the  time  willing  to  pro- 
ceed to  extremities.  Mr.  KiXG,  true  to  American 
character,  and  to  the  generous  instincts  of  his  na- 
ture, did  not  plunge  into  the  labyrinth  of  European 
diplomacy.  He  had  nothing  to  disguise,  nothing  to 
withhold,  nothing  to  ask  for  that  was  not  just;  and 
with  the  straightforwardness  and  dignity  which 
ought  always  to  characterize  an  American  minister 
abroad,  at  once  demanded  of  the  King  himself  a 
frank  avowal  of  his  intentions.  Louis  Philippe 
might  have  been  prepared  to  evade  the  artful  ap- 
proaches of  a  Talleyrand  or  a  Eichelieu,  but  he  had 
no  means  of  refusing  to  answer  a  plain  question, 
honestly  proposed  by  a  foreign  minister,  whose 
official  rank  did  not  add  the  w^eight  of  a  feather  to 
the  volume  of  his  private  character.     Mr.  KiXG  re- 

^ : > ii 


44 

ceived  the  desired  reply  as  to  the  final,  course  the 
French  government  meant  to  adopt  should  Texas  be 
annexed,  and  became  at  once  satisfied  that  our  re- 
lations with  France  would  not  be  disturbed  by  the 
event.  The  king's  reply  was  reported  to  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, then  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  annexation 
was  accomplished,  without  even  a  protest  from  any 
European  power.  Subsequently,  when  the  diplomatic 
correspondence  was  published,  Mr.  Guizot,  then  the 
French  Premier,  attempted  to  raise  a  question  of 
veracity  between  himself  and  Mr.  King,  in  regard 
to  the  reply  given  by  Louis  Philippe  to  our  repre- 
sentative in  Paris.  But  such  was  the  character  for 
honesty  and  truth  he  had  established  for  himself 
during  his  short  residence  in  the  French  capital,  and 
such  the  suspicions  with  which  Mr.  Guizot's  acts 
were  viewed  by  the  French  public,  that  there  was 
not  a  single  French  paper  which  dared  to  doubt  the 
word  of  our  minister;  and  the  aspersion  was  only 
translated  from  an  English  paper,  and  published  in 
the  French  government  journal.  The  object  was 
merely  to  justify  the  policy  of  France  as  against 
England ;  but  our  minister's  straightforward  course 
put  an  end  even  to  that  subterfuge.  He  demanded, 
as  a  gentleman,  that  the  King  should  respect  the 
assurance  given  him  in  regard  to  Texas;  and  the 
King  did  respect  it,  and  Mr.  Guizot  furnished  a  copy 
of  it  in  writing  to  Mr.  King.  Thus  did  not  only  our 
Government  but  the  person  of  our  minister  achieve 


*d 


45 

a  signal  triumph  over  the  sinuous  course  of  European 
j)olitics  and  statesmen. 

Pending  this  controversy,  it  is  said,  Mr.  Guizot 
attempted  to  assuage  Mr.  King,  by  assuring  him 
that  "  he  had  often  been  told  that  he  (Guizot)  lied." 
To  which  Mr.  King  modestly  replied,  that  ''he  had 
never  been  told  so."  French  appreciation  of  sarcasm 
had  no  difficulty  in  discovering  the  true  meaning  of 
Mr.  King's  caustic  reply.  I  cannot  but  allude  to  his 
kind  and  noble  disposition  to  bring  forward  and 
advance  the  fortunes  of  young  men,  struggling  up  in 
life.  I  have  myself  been  the  recipient  of  his  kind- 
ness in  this  res|)ect.  In  all  such  relations  he  never 
assumed  the  position  of  patron  and  client.  It  was 
not  his  position,  but  his  heart  which  determined  the 
place  occupied  by  his  friends,  and  his  exalted  cha- 
racter looked  to  no  return  of  favors.  After  his  election 
to  the  Vice-Presidency,  when  lingering  under  a  pain- 
ful and  mortal  disease,  in  a  foreign  country,  his 
thoughts  naturally  reverted  to  his  own  beloved  Ala- 
bama. Once  more  he  wished  to  behold  the  sun  of 
his  country — once  more  he  desired  to  breathe  the 
invigorating  air  of  home.  Friend  and  kindred  had 
followed  him  abroad;  but  he  yearned  for  a  wider 
circle  of  hearts  beating  in  unison  with  his  own.  The 
American  people  had  taken  a  deep  interest  in  his 
recovery.  They  had  a  pride  in  seeing  him  occupy 
the  position  to  which  their  suffirages  had  raised  him. 
They  had  an  abiding  confidence  in  his  integrity  as  a 

4  ^ 


46 


statesman,  and  a  warm  sympathy  for  his  bodily  suf- 
ferings. With  breathless  anxiety  did  the  people 
receive  the  tidings  of  the  progress  of  his  illness,  and 
each  note  of  sorrow,  which  travelled  with  the  velo- 
city of  light,  found  a  painful  echo  in  the  public 
breast.  To  the  people  of  his  country  did  the  old 
statesman  and  patriot  return,  to  draw  his  last  breath. 
Once  more  he  trod  the  soil  of  his  home ;  once  more 
his  eyes  gladdened  with  the  sight  of  his  native  land, 
— free,  prosperous,  and  happy;  once  more  his  heart 
beat  with  rapturous  delight  at  the  future  prospect 
and  greatness  of  this  glorious  Union.  The  strife  and 
clamor  of  ruthless  partisans  had  subsided ;  the  olive- 
leaf  of  peace  had  once  more  spread  her  blessings 
over  twenty-five  millions  of  contented  beings ;  and 
as  his  dying  lips  murmured  a  blessing  on  them  all, 
his  pure  soul  was  wafted  to  that  unknown  land, 
which,  in  the  midst  of  the  busy  scenes  of  his  life,  his 
Christian  heart  always  looked  to  as  his  last  and 
surest  resting-place. 

"  Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime; 
And  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time. 

^'  Footprints  that  perhaps  another, 
Sailing  o'er  life's  solemn  main — 
A  forlorn  and  shipwreck' d  brother — 
Seeing,  shall  take  heart  again. 


-® 


»9 


47 

"  Let  us,  then,  be  up  and  doing, 
With  a  heart  for  any  fate ; 
Still  achieving,  still  pursuing. 
Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait." 


MR.  TAYLOR,  of  Ohio,  said  : 

Mr.  Speaker  : — Death  has^o  often  invaded  this 
House  during  the  six  years  in  which  I  have  been  a 
member  of  Congress,  that  whenever  a  new  Congress 
convenes,  I  am  strongly  impressed  with  the  convic- 
tion, that  some  of  our  body,  during  their  term  of 
service,  must  pay  the  debt  of  nature,  and  end  their 
lives  in  the  public  service.  The  Senate,  though 
only  numbering  sixty-two  members,  rarely  passes  a 
session  without  being  called  upon  to  pay  the  usual 
funeral  honors  to  some  one  or  more  of  its  members. 
Even  the  Executive  mansion  is  not  unfrequently 
invaded  by  the  King  of  Terrors ;  and  men  in  public 
station  are  everywhere  constantly  reminded,  that  for 
life,  and  all  their  earthly  blessings,  they  are  depend- 
ent upon  Him  "  in  whose  hands  our  breath  is,  and 
whose  are  all  our  ways." 

The  official  announcement  of  the  death  of  the  Hon. 
William  E.  King,  late  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  well-deserved  eulogies  this  day  pro- 
nounced upon  his  character,  bring  freshly  to  our 
recollection  the  manly  form  and  gentlemanly  bearing 
of  that  distinguished  man,  and  his  long  and  eminent 
public  service. 

(i  g) 


48 

AVith  the  incidents  of  his  private  life  and  history 
I  am  not  so  familiar  as  to  speak  advisedly  :  but  his 
personal  friends  upon  this  floor  have  clearly  presented 
them  for  our  consideration.  I  had  the  pleasure  to 
know  him  for  many  years,  as  a  public  man ;  and  to 
meet  him  often  in  the  social  circles  of  this  city.  And 
though  we  differed  widely  in  our  opinions  upon  some 
of  the  most  important  political  questions  that  have 
lately  agitated  the  country,  I  always  found  him 
mingling  moderation  with  firmness,  and  a  proper 
respect  for  the  opinions  of  those  who  differed  with 
him.  A  just  and  high  sense  of  honor  seemed  to  me 
to  mark  his  public  and  private  career ;  and  I  cheer- 
fully express  these  views  of  the  distinguished  man, 
whose  death  we  now  commemorate,  because  I  hold 
that  no  differences  of  opinion  in  politics  should  ever 
make  us  forget  that  we  are  all  Americans ;  that  we 
are  all  under  the  protection  of  the  same  Constitution 
and  laws,  and  must  share  alike  the  benefits  or  evils 
that  may  result  from  our  public  actions.  A  higher 
motive  should  always  check  a  too  great  asperity  of 
political  feeling,  and  inculcate  a  wise  moderation  and 
proper  toleration  toward  those  who  differ  with  us. 
For,  after  all,  the  exertions  of  the  wisest  and  the 
best  men  among  us  are  but  transient ;  they  are  vain 
and  futile,  unless  sanctioned  and  approved  by  the 
great  Author  of  all  good.  Mr.  KixG  appeared  to  me 
possessed,  in  a  high  degrce,  of  a  w^ise  moderation, 
and  of  a  tolerant  spirit ;  and  his  long  experience  in 


49 

public  life  made  him  eminently  useful.  He  seemed 
to  me  to  combine,  in  a  very  high  degree,  the  strictest 
integrity  and  purest  honor,  and  what  the  great  poet 
so  admirably  portrays — 

"  "With  all  good  grace  to  grace  a  gentleman." 


MR.  ASHE,  of  North  Carolina,  rose,  and  said — 

Mr.  Speaker  : — Having  the  honor  to  represent 
the  county  in  which  William  R.  King  was  born,  and 
the  larger  portion  of  the  district  which  first  returned 
him  as  a  member  of  this  House ;  having  enjoyed,  in 
a  manner  grateful  to  my  recollection,  his  friendship 
and  confidence,  and  being  at  present  the  representa- 
tive of  a  numerous  and  highly  respectable  kindred 
he  left  with  us,  I  feel  it  a  solemn  duty  that  I  should 
not  allow  the  present  occasion  to  pass  without  add- 
ing my  humble  but  heartfelt  testimonial  to  the 
truthfulness  of  the  richly-deserved  and  high  com- 
mendations which  have  been  bestowed  on  him  by 
the  honorable  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me. 
After  the  indulgence  of  obsequial  griefs,  which  are  a 
fit  tribute  to  departed  worth,  the  soul  thirsts  to  im- 
mortalize, to  assimilate  to  itself  the  noble  and  vir- 
tuous endowments  of  deceased  friends.  Hence  we 
have,  as  the  remains  of  a  venerable  antiquity,  the 
most  magnificent  Egyptian  pyramids,  splendid  Gre- 
cian  mausoleums,  Roman   sepulchres  of  extensive 

dimensions ;  but  these  were  designed  to  j)ortray  the 

4 


50 


outward  rather  th|Ln  the  inward  man.  As  ancillary 
to  the  same  end,  various  expedients  and  devices  were 
adopted  to  perpetuate,  to  rescue  from  the  destruction 
of  time  the  personal  appearance,  after  the  soul  had 
taken  its  flight.  Vain  imaginings !  Empty  conceits  ! 
The  recorded  reminiscence  of  a  good  work,  of  a  cha- 
ritable deed,  of  a  benevolent  thought,  are  worth  more 
than  a  "  Pelion  upon  Ossa"  of  such  monuments.  Pos- 
terity is  grateful,  and  if  it  can  be  benefited  by  any 
single  incident  of  a  man's  life,  the  character  of  the 
benefactor  will  be  remembered  and  appreciated. 
And  if  his  deeds  of  goodness  should  fill  a  volume, 
posterity  will  never  weary  in  "  turning  the  leaf  to 
read  it,"  and  to  acknowledge  its  gratitude  to  the 
author.  And  such  a  prized  volume  have  we  afforded 
us  by  the  life  of  William  R.  King  ;  a  contemplation 
of  which  fills  our  hearts  with  gratitude,  and  inspires 
us  to  rejoice  that  as  one  among  us  he  lived,  and  to 
sorrow  that  "  he  is  no  more." 

I  believe  it  was  Philip  of  Macedon  who  gratefully 
sacrificed  to  the  gods  that  a  son  had  been  born  to 
him  in  time  to  derive  instruction  from  the  great  phi- 
losopher Aristotle.  If  such  was  the  veneration  of  a 
barbarian  warrior  for  a  heathen  philosopher,  how 
much  more  grateful  should  we  feel,  both  as  statesmen 
and  citizens,  that  our  lots  should  have  been  cast  in 
the  same  horoscope  with  that  of  Clay,  Calhoun,  and 
King;  in  the  history  of  each  of  whom  "there  is  a 
philosophy  teaching  by  example,"  well  fitted  to  steer 


■d 


«- 


51  . 

our  frail  bark  down  its  wayward  course,  clear  of  the 
dangerous  rocks  and  shoals  which  are  prone  to  wreck 
it.  These  distinguished  compatriots,  who,  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  commanded  the  admiration  of  the 
American  world,  though  widely  differing  one  from 
another  in  peculiarities  of  character,  yet  each,  in  his 
life,  left  us  a  legacy,  which,  the  more  we  read,  the 
more  we  will  appreciate. 

The  two  former,  "  having  gathered  together  their 
earthly  harvest,"  previous  to  the  adjournment  of  the 
last  Congress,  have  received  from  their  admiring 
friends  that  tribute  of  respect  which  we  are  now 
called  upon  to  render  to  the  last.  While  we  do  not 
claim  for  our  distinguished  friend  either  the  thrilling 
eloquence  of  Clay,  or  the  philosophical  discrimina- 
tion of  Calhoun,  yet,  in  the  various  positions  which 
it  was  his  fortune  to  fill,  we  find  developed  the  true 
elements  of  moral  and  intellectual  greatness. 

"  Perhaps  one  of  the  highest  encomiums  ever  pro- 
nounced on  a  man  in  public  life,"  said  the  late  John 
Quincy  Adams,  "  is  that  of  a  historian,  eminent  for 
his  profound  acquaintance  with  mankind,  who,  in 
painting  a  great  character  by  a  single  line,  says — 
'  He  was  just  equal  to  all  the  duties  of  the  highest 
offices  which  he  attained,  and  never  above  them. 
There  are,  in  some  men,  qualities  which  dazzle  and 
consume  to  little  or  no  valuable  purpose.  These  sel- 
dom belong  to  the  great  benefactors  of  mankind.' " 
Such  were  not  the  qualities  of  Colonel  King  ;  but  in 


f 

52 

all  the  relations  of  life,  in  every  position  he  attained, 
he  was  fully  equal  to  their  responsibilities,  and  dis- 
charged their  varied  duties  with  fidelity  and  ability. 

Colonel  King  was  born  in  Sampson  county,  in  my 
State,  April,  1786.  His  father,  William  King,  was 
a  gentleman  of  foi;tune  and  character.  During  the 
Ke volution ary  war,  he  rendered  important  services  to 
his  country's  cause,  both  by  personal  service  and  the 
generous  use  of  his  fortune.  After  the  conclusion  of 
the  war,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which 
was  called  to  adopt  the  Federal  Constitution,  and 
was  repeatedly  elected  a  Delegate  to  the  General 
Assembly  from  his  county.  His  situation  in  life  en- 
abled him  to  bestow  on  his  children  all  the  advan- 
tages of  education  which  our  country  at  that  time 
afforded. 

Colonel  King  was  sent  at  an  early  age  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  located  at  Chapel  Hill, 
which  institution  he  left  in  his  seventeenth  year, 
bearing  with  him  the  happy  consolation  of  having 
commanded  the  respect  of  his  professors,  the  love 
and  esteem  of  his  associates.  He  studied  law  with 
William  Duffy,  an  eminent  jurist,  residing  in  the 
town  of  Fayette ville,  where  he  formed  friendships 
which  he  preserved  with  affection  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  On  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  settled  in 
his  native  county,  from  which  he  was  returned  the 
following  year  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  By 
this  body  he  was  elected  Solicitor  for  the  Wilmington 


m» 


53 

judicial  district,  in  which  situation  he  continued  for 
two  years.  He  was  then  again  returned  to  the  Legis- 
Lature  for  the  years  1808-9.  In  the  year  1810  he 
was  elected  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
being  the  Twelfth  Congress.  This  was  a  most  im- 
portant crisis  in  our  national  affairs.  France  domi- 
nant in  Europe,  England  mistress  of  the  ocean,  our 
neutrality  was  grossly  disregarded  by  each  of  these 
supercilious  Powers.  To  our  menacing  protests, 
France  ultimately  yielded  respect.  England  con- 
tinued her  career  of  haughty  insolence.  War  or 
national  degradation  was  inevitable. 

True  republicans  avoided  not  the  issue,  but  met  it 
boldly.  Colonel  King  acted  with  them  with  his 
whole  soul ;  and,  though  one  of  the  youngest  mem- 
bers of  the  Congress,  he  was  distinguished  for  the 
firm  and  fervid  earnestness  with  which  he  supported 
the  illustrious  Madison  in  his  patriotic  efforts  to  sus- 
tain the  honor  of  our  country.  He  continued  a 
member  of  Congress  until  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
war,  when  he  accepted  a  diplomatic  position  abroad, 
associated  with  that  scholar  and  statesman,  William 
Pinckney.  On  his  return  from  Europe,  he  changed 
his  residence  from  North  Carolina  to  Alabama,  car- 
rying with  him  the  cordial  respect  and  good  wishes 
of  all — the  enmity  of  no  one.  Alabama  was  then  a 
Territory,  but  on  the  eve  of  organizing  a  State  Go- 
vernment, and  as  soon  as  it  was  done,  she,  although 
Colonel  KiXG  was  then  absent  from  the  State,  honored 

i>— ' i 


1.9 


54 


him  with  one  of  her  first  Senatorial  appointments  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States ;  a  most  flattering 
mark  of  confidencej  which  confidence  he  enjoyed  in 
the  amplest  manner  during  the  remainder  of  his  long 
and  eventful  life.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  read 
further  from  the  volume  of  his  life.  His  subsequent 
career  has  already  been  detailed  by  able  and  expe- 
rienced friends.  What  is  the  lesson  which  posterity 
can  learn  from  this  volume  ?  It  is  useful  I  It  is  signifi- 
cant !  Let  the  honor,  let  the  happiness  of  our  coun- 
try, as  with  him,  be  our  ruling  aspiration ;  but  in  its 
advocation  let  us  so  attemper,  as  he  did,  our  con- 
duct ;  so  dispense  the  charities  of  life,  that  we  can 
command  for  ourselves  the  love  of  friends,  the  ad- 
miration of  opponents.  While  such  is  the  brilliant 
picture  of  his  public  career,  his  private  life,  his  frank 
and  confiding  disposition,  his  uniform  courtesy  and 
kindness,  the  single-hearted  devotedness  of  his  friend- 
ship, his  love  of  right,  his  hatred  of  wrong,  his  bold 
and  chivalric  temper,  present  a  character  worthy  of 
our  study  and  emulation. 

"  A  combination  and  a  form  indeed, 
Where  every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal, 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man.'^ 

MR.  BENTON,  of  Missouri,  said : 

Mr.  Speaker  : — The  relation  in  which  I  have 
stood  to  the  eminent  deceased,  whose  loss  we  all 
deplore,  must  plead  my  excuse  for  a  departure  from 


i- 


— # 


55 

the  ancient  practice,  which  limits  the  number  of 
tribute-offerers,  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  to 
the  mover  and  seconder  of  the  resolutions  which 
express  the  sense  of  the  House  at  the  death  of  a  fel- 
low-member. 

Natives  of  the  same  State,  and  nearly  of  the  same 
age,  we  emigrated  when  young,  to  what  was  then 
the  Far  West;  and  by  the  favor  of  our  adopted 
States,  were  both  returned,  and  nearly  at  the  same 
time,  to  occupy  seats  on  the  floor  of  the  American 
Senate.  Commencing— he  in  1819,  I  in  1820— we 
remained  for  thirty  years,  (with  the  exception  of  the 
brief  interval  in  which  he  represented  his  country  at 
a  foreign  court,)  members  of  the  same  body — inti- 
mately associated  in  all  the  current  business  of  that 
body,  and  in  all  the  amenities  of  social  and  private 
hfe. 

But  my  knowledge  of  him  goes  beyond  thirty  years 
—goes  back  to  forty— and  not  then  to  the  beginning 
of  his  Congressional  service — when  I  first  saw  him 
on  this  floor.  And  I  mention  this  first  time  of  seeing 
him,  and  in  what  place,  to  do  honor  to  the  2^uhlic 
man  who  could  so  long  retain  the  confidence  of  his 
constituents ;  and  to  their  honor  for  the  steadiness 
of  their  support ;  and  to  the  credit  of  our  institutions, 
to  which  such  stability  between  constituent  and 
representative  promises  a  duration,  not  to  be  measured 
by  the  brief  lives  of  those  republics  whose  people 
were  given  up  to  fickleness  and  versatility. 


'W 


g 
56 

These  circumstances  plead  my  excuse  for  departing 
from  a  custom  which  limited  the  number  of  those 
who  should  have  the  privilege  of  expressing,  in  the 
presence  of  the  national  representation,  their  own, 
and  the  general  feeling,  at  the  demise  of  a  brother 
member. 

The  members  who  have  preceded  me  have  stated, 
and  well  stated,  the  illustrious  career  of  the  deceased 
— tracing  his  course  through  a  long  gradation,  always 
rising,  of  public  honors — from  the  General  Assembly 
of  his  native  State,  to  the  second  office  of  his  country 
— the  Vice-Presidency  of  this  great  Kepublic. 

To  me  it  only  belongs  to  join  my  voice  to  theirs, 
and  to  the  voices  of  all  who  knew  him,  in  celebrating 
the  integrity  and  purity  of  his  life — the  decorum  of 
his  manners — his  assiduous  and  punctual  attention 
to  every  duty — and  the  ability  and  intelligence 
which  he  brought  to  the  discussion  of  the  national 
affairs  during  his  long  service  of  thirty  years. 

Faithful  to  his  adopted  State,  he  exhibited,  when 
duty  to  her  permitted,  the  beautiful  trait  of  filial 
affection  to  the  honored  State  of  his  birth — a  State 
which  has  so  many  claims  upon  her  children,  (besides 
that  of  having  first  given  them  the  vital  air,)  for 
their  constant  and  grateful  remembrance — whereso- 
ever they  may  go. 

As  friend,  as  associate,  as  native  of  the  same  State 
with  the  late  Vice-President  King,  I  appear  on  this 
occasion,  and  feel  it  to  be,  in  me, — his  senior  in  age, 


f 

57 

— a  providential  privilege  to  assist  in  doing  honor  to 
his  memory  in  the  presence  of  the  national  repre- 
sentation. 

MR.  PHILIPS,  of  Alabama,  said : 

Mr.  Speaker  : — I  cannot  permit  this  occasion  to 
pass  by,  without  paying  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
the  deceased. 

It  is  not,  sir,  to  contribute  to  a  mere  ceremony,  or 
to  conform  to  any  public  expectation,  that  I  now 
occupy  the  floor.  My  feelings  are  far  too  deep  for 
such  lip-service  demonstration. 

It  was  my  fortune,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  have  enjoyed 
the  full  confidence  and  friendship  of  William  E. 
King,  for  the  whole  period  of  my  residence  in  the 
State  which  I  have  now  the  honor  to  represent.  I 
early  learned  to  appreciate  his  high  qualities ;  and 
time,  which  tests  all  things,  served  but  to  confirm 
my  judgment.  I  may  now  safely  say  of  him  dead, 
what,  with  equal  confidence,  I  may  have  said  were 
he  now  living,  that  the  Kepublic  never  produced  a 
man  of  more  exalted  integrity,  or  of  a  higher  chivalry 
of  character.  ♦ 

I  visited  Washington  for  the  first  time  a  few  years 
ago,  and  though  it  has  been  said,  (with  what  truth  I 
cannot  assert,)  that  corruption  here  stalks  at  noon- 
day, it  was  with  just  pride  as  an  xilabamian,  that  I 
learned  from  all  quarters  and  all  parties,  that  through 
his  long  service  in  the  public  councils  of  upward  of 


»- 


58 

a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  had  not  only  preserved  his 
reputation  intact,  but  freed  even  from  the  breath  of 
suspicion. 

It  was  this  purity  of  character,  joined  to  the  high 
qualities  of  a  remarkably  well-balanced  mind,  that 
enabled  him  to  enjoy,  for  so  long  a  period,  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people  of  his  own  State,  and  of  the 
whole  Confederacy. 

He  has  filled  the  highest  offices,  and  discharged 
the  weightiest  duties,  with  honor  to  himself  and 
advantage  to  his  country;  well,  therefore,  may  we 
conclude,  in  the  language  of  the  Presidential  Mes- 
sage, that  the  death  of  such  a  man  is  an  irreparable 
loss  to  the  country. 

A  great  man  has  fallen,  and  it  is  fit  we  mourn 
him !  Dying,  as  he  lived,  with  a  full  knowledge  of 
the  past,  and  a  just  appreciation  of  the  future,  may 
I  not  indulge  in  the  hope,  that  the  light  of  his  ex- 
ample may  long  continue  to  illuminate  the  path  of 
the  future  Representatives  of  the  State  which  holds 
his  remains  and  cherishes  his  memory ! 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  resolutions  were  unani- 
mously adopted. 


i  i  I 


»' 


•f 


Associate 
Justices. 


SUPREME  COURT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

r 

December  9,  1853. 

Pursuant  to  adjournment,  the  Court  met  this  morning  at 
the  Capitol : 
Present — 
The  Honorable  Roger  B.  Taney,  Chief  Justice. 
»  John  McLean, 

James  M.  Wayne, 
John  Catron, 
Peter  V.  Daniel, 
Samuel  Nelson, 
Robert  G.  Grier, 
Benj.  R.  Curtis,  Jr. 
John  A.  Campbell, 
Jonah  D.  Hoover,  Esquire,  Marshal. 
William  Thomas  Carroll,  Clerk. 

Proclamation  being  made,  the  Court  is  opened. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Court  this  morning,  Mr.  CusniNG, 
the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  addressed  the 
Court  as  follows : 

Mat  it  please  your  Honors  : — I  rise  to  submit  a 
motion  which  seems  to  be  called  for  by  the  nature 

59 


60 

of  the  subject-matter.  God,  in  his  inscrutable  but 
supreme  will,  has  removed  from  the  service  of  the 
country,  and  from  that  path  of  honor  which,  through 
a  long  lifetime  of  greatness  and  goodness,  he  had  so 
nobly  trod,  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 
When  the  voice  of  some  future  panegyrist,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Bravo,  or  the  Columbia, 
shall  speak  of  the  heroes,  the  legislators,  the  states- 
meia,  and  the  magistrates  of  our  country,  as  he  re- 
counts the  names  borne  on  that  glorious  roll  of  im- 
mortality, he  cannot  fail  to  pause  wdth  unalloyed 
satisfaction  at  the  name  of  William  R.  King.  Pro- 
vidence from  time  to  time  raises  up  men  to  lead 
armies  on  to  victory  through  the  clash  of  the  battle- 
field, or  by  rare  gifts  of  written  or  spoken  thought 
to  wield,  at  will,  the  fiercest  impulses  of  nations. 
Such  men,  if  they  have  a  superlatively  splendid 
career,  yet  have  an  agitated  one.  They  create 
events,  and  they  partake  of  the  vicissitudes  of 
events.  They  may,  they  often  do,  have  shaded 
sides  of  the  mental  formation,  without  which  the 
bright  ones  w^ould  be  too  dazzlingly  brilliant.  They 
come  to  be  praised  or  dispraised  alternately,  accord- 
ing to  the  light  in  which  their  actions  are  viewed,  and 
the  flux  or  reflux  of  the  tides  of  popular  emotion.  If 
William  R.  King  be  not  of  these,  yet  he  has  an 
appropriate  and  perhaps  a  more  enviable  place  in 
the  temple  of  fame  and  in  the  hearts  of  Americans. 
For  of  him  it  is  with  plainest  truth  to  be  said,  that 


61 

with  lofty  elements  in'iiis  character  to  merit  and 
receive  the  most  absolute  commendation,  there  is 
nothing  in  it  open  to  censure.  He  stands  to  the 
memory,  in  sharp  outline,  as  it  were,  against  the 
sky,  like  some  chiselled  column  of  antique  art,  or 
some  consular  statue  of  the  imperial  republic 
wrapped  in  its  marble  robes,  grandly  beautiful  in 
the  simple  dignity  and  unity  of  a  faultless  pro- 
portion. 

Placed  at  an  early  age  in  that  august  assembly, 
the  highest,  all  things  considered,  in  this  or  any 
other  land — the  Senate  of  the  United  States — and 
continuing  there,  save  with  brief  interruption  of  the 
most  eminent  diplomatic  employment,  during  a 
whole  generation  of  time,  and  repeatedly  elevated  to 
preside  over  its  deliberations,  he  had  grown  to  be, 
not  of  it  merely,  but  its  representative  man,  its  typi- 
cal person,  its  all-conspicuous  model  of  an  upright, 
pure,  spotless,  high-minded,  chivalric  American  Sena- 
tor. This  it  is,  in  my  judgment,  which  constitutes 
the  distinctive  trait  in  his  character  and  career,  and 
which  drew  to  him  the  veneration  and  the  confi- 
dence of  his  countrymen.  We  think  of  him  almost 
as  an  historical  monument  of  senatorial  integrity, 
rather  than  as  a  mere  mortal  man  of  the  age.  Like 
that  gallant  soldier,  who  received  the  baton  of  mar- 
shal in  the  very  scene  of  his  achievements,  and  fell, 
struck  by  a  cannon-shot,  in  the  act  of  grasping 
the  insignia  of  his  command,  so  the  Vice-President 


•9 


«.■ 


62 

did  but  reacli  the  pinnacle  of  his  greatness  to  die. 
Such  a  death,  so  timed,  though  premature  for  us 
whom  he  has  left  behind  to  the  toils  and  cares  of 
public  duty,  was  not  premature  for  the  consummate 
completeness  of  his  renown.  Knowing  how  deeply 
his  loss  must  be  deplored  by  your  Honors,  it  is 
deemed  fitting  for  me  to  move  that  this  Court,  in 
unison  with  what  has  been  done  by  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress,  do  now  adjourn,  in  manifestation  of  its 
respect  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 


To  which  Mr.  Chief-Justice  TANEY  replied : 

The  Court  is  sensible  that  every  mark  of  re- 
spect is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Vice-Presi- 
dent, William  E.  King. 

His  life  was  passed  in  the  public  service,  and 
marked,  throughout  it,  by  its  purity,  integrity,  and 
disinterested  devotion  to  the  public  good. 

It  is  true,  that  no  part  of  it  connected  him  par- 
ticularly with  the  judicial  branch  of  this  Govern- 
ment. But  the  people  of  the  United  States  had  ele- 
vated him  to  the  highest  office  but  one  in  their  gift ; 
and  the  loss  of  a  Statesman  like  him,  so  honored, 
and  so  worthy  of  the  honor  bestowed,  is  felt  to  be  a 
public  calamity  by  this  department  of  Government, 
as  well  as  by  that  to  which  he  more  immediately  be- 
longed.    And  as  a  token  of  their  high  respect  for 


m- 


4 


f 

63 

him  while  living,  and  their  sincere  sorrow  for  his 
death,  the  Court  will  adjourn  to-day  without  trans- 
acting its  ordinary  business. 

Test:  WM.  THOS.  CARROLL, 

Clerk  of  Supreme  Court  TJ,  S. 


f"'* 


THE  END.. 


m 


0 


■^ 


